Students in South Dakota’s university system must pass CoRE English (ENGL 101C) or Composition I (ENGL 101) and Composition II (ENGL 201) in order to obtain a degree. Verbal scores lower than 18 on the ACT or lower than 74 on the COMPASS require placement in CoRE English, a course that combines the remedial instruction of English 032 with the writing instruction of English 101.

The South Dakota Board of Regents (SDBOR) lists four Student Learning Outcomes that apply to General Education English writing courses. The Outcomes are reproduced in the syllabi for your English courses, but here they are again, verbatim, for your information.

As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will: 1) Write using Standard American English, including correct punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure; 2) Write logically; 3) Write persuasively, with a variety of rhetorical strategies (e.g., expository, argumentative, descriptive); 4) Incorporate formal research and documentation into their writing, including research obtained through modern, technology-based research tools.

Goals one and two apply to CoRE English, primarily, and Composition I, secondarily. Number three applies primarily to Composition II, although Composition I concludes with a persuasive essay to be written during the Common Final. Goal four also applies to that final essay/exam in ENGL-101, but Composition II continues to elaborate upon synthesis and research methods.

Entries for January 2011

The English program recommends books we call “default textbooks” for each course. This is a list of the most commonly used books. However, students should not assume that these same books will be used in the course for w...